Apparatus for separating a web of lace into individual bands

ABSTRACT

A machine for separating a web of lace into individual bands includes at one end a pair of drive rollers for pulling the material through the machine, and at the other end a set of tensioning rollers for retarding the free movement of the material through the machine. A plurality of idler rollers guide the material in its travel between the tensioning and drive rollers. The lacers holding the individual bands of lace together as a web are stripped from the web and wound on one or more takeup reels. As the material is drawn through the machine, the reels are rotated to continuously rip the lacers from the web of material thus separating the web into individual bands.

United States Patent Neth et a1.

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING A WEB OF LACE INTO INDIVIDUAL BANDS Richard M. Neth, Dallas; John M. Rogers, Shavertown; James J. Gallagher, Kingston, all of Pa.

Assignee: Indian Head Inc., New York, NY.

Filed: Oct. 30, 1970 Appl. No.: 85,366

inventors:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1944 Spalding ..2s 17 6/1958 Langlois et ai ..28/1 cs 2,898,663 8/1959 Kitahara ..28/1CSX 2,921,359 1/1960 Cotumaccio ..28/1CS Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond [57] ABSTRACT A machine for separating a web of lace into individual bands includes at one end a pair of drive rollers for pulling the material through the machine, and at the other end a set of tensioning rollers for retarding the free movement of the material through the machine. A plurality of idler rollers guide the material in its travel between the tensioning and drive rollers. The lacers holding the individual bands of lace together as a web are stripped from the web and wound on one or more take-up reels. As the material is drawn through the machine, the reels are rotated to continuously rip the lacers from the web of material thus separating the web into individual bands.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures [ll/ l" FINISHED LACE BANDS P'ATENTEDJHHN m2 3. 672.01 1

SHEET 20F 2 INVENTORS. RICHARD M. NETH' JOHN M. ROGERS 8: JAMES J. GALLAGHER BMQF, h ll- 'fheir 4770/? [V8 APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING A WEB OF- LACE INTO INDIVIDUAL BANDS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to apparatus for separating fabric materials into individual bands and, more particularly, to apparatus for separating knitted polyester lace into individual bands.

For many years, the manufacture of lace has been performed by knitting a broad web of lace approximately 7 yards wide in which the individual bands of lace, which typically vary between one and five inches in width, are repeated across the width of the web. Knitted into the web and between the bands are a series of nylon threads called lacers". After the web has been knitted and dyed and otherwise processed, the lacers are stripped from the web thus breaking the threads which hold the individual bands together as a web. The bands are then collected and trimmed to form the final product.

In the past, the task of stripping the lacers from the lace webs has been done by hand. This has been necessary partly because the length of lacer per unit length of lace varies with the variety of lace. For example, Raschel lace has only one lacer between adjacent bands. n the other hand, Levers lace has two lacers between adjacent bands, one of which follows a wavy or scalloped path along the band while the otherfollows a straight path. Thus, the difficulty of devising a machine to strip the lacers from such a variety of webs has inhibited development of such a machine to replace the manual technique.

The manual technique is manifestly inefficient. A single per son can strip only a few lacers from the web at a time, hence many workers are required to strip all the lacers from a single web. In addition, the task of manually stripping the lacers from the .web is so tedious that defects may occur without being noticed by an unattentive worker.

Prior'atternpts to automate the process of removing the lacers from the material have foundered on, among others, the problem of matching the speed of the stripper with the speed of the web as it advances through the apparatus. The slightest deviation in speed between the web and the lacer stripping means would either snap the lacer and cause a malfunction and/or allow the web of lace to be deposited in the slotted receiving box with the lacer still in place. Thus, in spite of the obvious economic advantage of performing this operation automatically, it has remained the uniform practice in the art to strip the lacers from the web by hand.

The art, therefore, has long been in need of automatic means for stripping lacers from a web of lace in which a slight difference between-the speed of the lacer take-up means and the speed of advancement of the web through the apparatus does not cause malfunctioning, and in which there is an automatic alarm to signal when the lacers are not completely removed from the web.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a lace separator for automatically separating a web of lace into individual bands.

' Another object of this invention is to provide a lace separator for automatically removing the lacers from a web of lace.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a lace separator having means for stripping the lacers from aweb of lace at the same speed at which the web is advanced through the apparatus.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a lace separator in which a slight difference between the speed of the lacer stripper and the speed of advancement of the web of lace through the apparatus is not critical to operation of the apparatus. v

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a lace separator having sensor means for sensing the presence of unremoved lacers between the bands of lace.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lace separator for stripping lacers from a web of lace to separate the web into individual bands and which automatically halts the advancement of the web through the apparatus when any of the lacers are lefi in the web.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a apparatus for separating a web of lace into individual bands which can be used for many different varieties of lace.

These and other objects of the invention are obtained by providing an apparatus having a pair of drive rollers at one end for drawing the material along the path through the apparatus and a set of tensioning rollers at the other end for retarding the free passage of the material through the apparatus to maintain the material under tension, and a variable speed lacer stripper along the path between the tensioning rollers and the drive 'rollers for stripping the lacers from the web of material to separate the web into individual bands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the Drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation of a lace separator arranged according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of a lace separator constructed according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the illustrative embodiment of a lace separator arranged according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a web of material 10 is drawn upwardly from a web storage box 1 l or supply roll by a drive mechanism 12 located at the exit or downstream end of the apparatus. As indicated by the arrows 13, the web 10 is initially driven in a tortuous path around a set of superposed tensioning rollers 14 and 15 and 16 which pinch the material 10 between themselves. A friction brake (described hereinafter) is applied to one of the rollers to retard the free rotation thereof and thus maintain the material under tension in its movement between the rollers l4, l5 and 16 and the drive mechanism 12. This tension may be adjusted by adjusting the frictional force acting on the retarded roller.

From the tensioning rollers 14, 15 and 16, the web of material 10 is directed around a pair of idler rollers 18 and 19 which, in turn, direct the web of material 10 across tan inspection board 20 to the drive mechanism 12. The inspection board 20 provides the machine operator an opportunity to observe the condition of the lace as it advances toward the drive roller and the exit end of the machine, and provides a convenient expanse of lace in which to make repairs or adjustments should it be necessary to do so. Adjacent the tension roller 16 and the idler roller 19 are a pair of take-up reels 22 and 24, respectively, each of which is independently rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows 22a and 24a by a separate variable speed motor.

When the web of material 10 has been strung as illustrated between the tension rollers and the drive mechanism 12, the scallop lacers (one for eachband) are manually stripped from the web 10 and fastened to the reel 22. The straight lacers (one interconnecting each two adjacent bands) are manually stripped from the web 10 and fastened to the reel 24. Then, when the motors for the reels 22 and 24 are energized and the web of material 10 is drawn from the storage box 1 1 or supply roll to the drive mechanism 12, the scallop lacers are automatically and continuously stripped from the web by the reel 22 and the straight lacers are automatically and continuously stripped from the web by the reel 24. With the stripping away of the straight lacers, the web 10 is divided into individual bands. The bands are pulled through the drive mechanism 12 and deposited into a slotted finished lace bands box 25.

Looking now at FIG. 2, a preferential form of the present invention includes a frame 30 having two parallel spaced upstanding side members 32 and lateral members 34 extending between and secured to the side members. The members constituting the frame are bolted or welded together to form an integral unit. The drive mechanism 12 includes a drive roller 36 mounted on journals 38 connected to side members 32 and an electric motor 40 connected by a linkage, such as a drive belt 41, to the drive roller to produce clockwise rotation thereof. A single speed motor may be used, although greater versatility is provided by use of a variable speed motor such as the one H.P., 11 to 68 RPM, U.S. Varidyne Syncrogear Mo- I01.

Extending forwardly of the frame are a pair of rigid arms 42 having bifurcated ends 44 which pivotally support a pair of depending members 46. Attached to the members 46 are a second set of journals 48 for rotatably supporting a pinch roller 50. A bifurcated link 52 is pinned to the lower end of each of the depending members 46 and has connected thereto a shaft 54. Each shaft 54 is connected to a piston (not shown) which rides within a cylinder 56 pivotally mounted at its rear end to side members 32. A sliding seal is provided between the forward end of the cylinder 56 and the shaft so that either end of the cylinder may be pressurized with a fluid, such as air, admitted through a pair of fluid pressure lines 58 and 60 connected to a compressor (not shown) to effect forward and rearward movement of the piston. Pressurizing the portion of the cylinder 56 rearward of the rear face of the piston by way of the line 58 will cause forward movement of the piston, shaft 54 and bifurcated link 52. The lower end of each depending member 46 will then rotate counterclockwise about its pivotal connection with forwardly extending arm 42 and moves pinch roller 50 away from the drive roller 36 to facilitate stringing of the web of material onto the various rollers of the apparatus.

To operate the apparatus, the side of the cylinder 56 on the forward face of the piston is pressurized through the pressure line 60 and the piston is moved rearwardly. This causes the pinch roller 50 to pinch against drive roller 36 with the result that the rotating drive roller 36 will pull the web of material 10 through the apparatus.

A sensor assembly 63 for sensing the presence of one or more lacers remaining between the bands includes a shaft 64 journaled on opposite sides of the frame and extending across the web of material closely thereabove. A plurality of fingers 66 are keyed to the shaft and extend therefrom into the path of the material between the bands thereof. Under normal conditions the fingers and shaft will remain stationary. However, if a straight lacer or other thread be left interconnecting the bands, the finger extending therebetween will be engaged and rotated counterclockwise by such interconnecting thread.

A cam 67 is keyed to one end of the shaft 64 and is engaged by the end of a lever connected to a valve 68. Rotation of shaft 64 earns the valve lever to trip or shift the valve 68. The valve 68 interconnects the shaft 64 with the drive rollers 36 and the take-up reels 22 and 24. In the preferred embodiment, the valve 68 is an electrical valve, such as a simple electrical limit switch which cuts the power to the motors for the drive roller 36 and the take-p reels 22 and 24 when the shaft 64 is rotated.

Another embodiment contemplated includes a compression spring within the cylinder 56 acting against the rear face of the piston. the constant biasing force of this compression spring is overcome during operation by fluid pressure admitted through the pressure line 60 to the portion of the cylinder forward of the forward face of the piston. in this embodiment, the valve 68 is an air pressure relief valve communicating between the pressurized portion of the cylinder 56 and the exterior of the cylinder. Thus, when finger 66 engages a lacer and the shaft 64 rotates, the valve is opened and the cylinder area forward of the piston is depressurized. The biasing compression spring will then push the piston forward and the depending members 46 will rotate about their pivotal connections with the forwardly extended members 22. In this way, the drive roller 36 and the pinch roller 50 will separate to halt the advancement of the material through the apparatus. Although the drive roller 36 will continue to rotate, the material is not pinched thereagainst with the result that the friction between the drive roller 36 and the material will be insufiicient to overcome the resistance of the tensioning rollers 14, 15 and 16. This embodiment is intended for use with the constant torque lacer stripper, discussed later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tensioning rollers 14, 15 and 16 are journaled in the frame 30 to the rear of and below the idler rollers 18 and 19. The top and middle tensioning rollers 16 and 15, respectively, are journaled in a pair of circular plates 70 and 71, respectively, each plate having a deep circumferential groove cut into the periphery thereof. The plates 70 and 71 are slidably disposed in a rectangular opening 72 formed in the side members of the frame 30 such that the side edges of the opening 72 extend into the circumferential grooves in plates 70 and 71 to permit free vertical movement of the plates in the openings 72, but to restrain the plates from horizontal movement either to the side or front and rear. By making the rollers 15 and 16 vertically adjustable, as described, the process of stringing the web of material is greatly facilitated. Moreover, the weight of rollers 15 and 16, freely slidable in opening 72, bears against the roller 14 to maintain tension in the web of material. If it is desired to increase the pressure of the rollers 15 and 16 against each other and against roller 14, an auxiliary compression spring 74 may be inserted between the top of opening 72 and a follower 76 riding on the top plate 70. Springs of various compressive force may be substituted to vary the pressure between the rollers. Alternatively, a pair of belts could be stretched between pulleys extending from the ends of roller 16 and a pair of vertically adjustable or variably tensioned pulleys journaled on frame 30.

An adjustable brake 78 is provided for the bottom tensioning roller 14. The brake 78 includes a brake drum 80 keyed to the shaft of roller 14 and a brake shoe 82 encircled by a strap 84 which can be adjustably tightened by a turnbuckle 86 to vary the tension of web 10.

The lacer take-up reels 24 and 22 are journaled in the frame 30 generally opposite and slightly below the first idler roller 19 and the top tensioning roller 16, respectively. Each take-up reel is driven by a variable speed electric motor through a fixed ratio drive. This enables each reel to rotate independently at any desired speed within the range of the motor and to make adjustments in the speed of either reel as it becomes necessary.

In operation, the lace to be separated into bands is loaded, usually in a roll, on the machine. The tensioning rollers 15 and 16 are separated vertically and the material 10 is withdrawn from the supply roll and threaded back and forth between the three rollers 14, 15 and 16, passing around the top of the top roller 16, around the idler rollers 18 and 19 in a generally zshaped pate, and then down across the inspection board 20 under the sensor device 63 and between the drive roller 36 and the pinch roller 50. After the material has been strung on the machine as described, the lacers are stripped back from the material and wound around their respective take-up reels 22 and 24. If Levers lace is to be separated, a straight lacer and a scallop lacer must be removed from between each band. The straight lacer is wound around the top reel 24 and the scallop lacer is wound around the bottom reel 22. With the pinch roller 50 engaging the drive roller 36 through the material, the drive roller 36 is then started to commence drawing the material through the apparatus. The drive motors for the take-up reels 22 and 24 are started and the speed is adjusted for each reel so that the point of separation of the lacer from the material remains constant with respect to the machine. Once that adjustment has been made, the machine can run by itself with little or no supervision until or unless stopped by the automatic sensor 63.

Slight differences in speed between the take-up reels 22 and 24 and the speed of advancement of the material are not critical because for each lacer a zone of separation is provided. The zone of separation is best explained by reference to FIG. 1. Should the speed of the top reel 24 be adjusted so that the lacer is stripped from the material at a speed slightly faster than the speed of advancement of the material through the apparatus, the point of'separation of the lacer from the material will advance counterclockwise around the top idler roller 19 and toward the second idler roller 18. Slowing the speed of reel 24 will correct the problem. Similarly, a zone is provided for the second lacer between the second idler roller 18 and the point of contact between the top and middle tension rollers 16 and 15, respectively. Should the speed of the bottom lacer reel 22 be in excess of the speed of advancement of the material through the apparatus, the point of separation of the lacer will advance counterclockwise around the top tension roller 16 toward the point of contact between the top tension roller and the middle tension roller 15. These zones provide the operator of the machine with abundant opportunity to make corrections in the speed of take-up reels 22 and 24 so that the point of separation of the lacer from the material remains stationary with respect to the machine.

The idler rollers 18 and 19 are provided to lengthen the effective path between the tensioning rollers 14, and 16 and the drive mechanism 12, and also to provide lateral support to the web over the zones of separation. By directing the web backward almost 180 around idler roller 18 to idler roller 19, the efiective path of travel of the web is increased without increasing the length of the apparatus. Moreover, rollers 18 and 19 provide lateral support to the web to resist the pull of the lacer reels and hold the web in the plane of its path. The operation of the apparatus is therefore trim and taut, and precise adjustment of take-up speed is thereby facilitated.

Another automatic stop mechanism may be added to stop the machine if one of the scallop lacers should break. Since the scallop lacers do not interconnect the bands, the sensor device 63 would not be actuated by an unremoved scallop lacer. The scallop lacer automatic stop mechanism includes a series of eyelets, each threaded by a single scallop lacer and each held in place by its respective lacer under tension. When one lacer breaks, its eyelet drops by gravity or under spring tension and breaks the electrical circuit to all three drive motors.

It is contemplated that instead of a fixed ratio drive for the take-up reels, a variable torque drive could be substituted. Thus, a material such as cotton from which considerably less torque is required to strip the lacers would require a low adjustment on the variable torque drive. When the point of separation of the lacer from the material remains constant the operator would know that the proper torque is being applied. In effect, then, the operator would be adjusting the torque rather than the speed of the reel..

Obviously numerous other modifications and variations of the above-described preferred embodiment are possible in the light of the present disclosure and the prior art. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described above. I

Weclaim:

1. Apparatus for separating material into individual bands from a web initially formed as a plurality of parallel bands laid edge to edge and held together along their adjacent edges by interconnecting lacers, comprising:

a frame having two parallel spaced upstanding side members and at least one lateral member extending between and secured to said side members;

at least two parallel te'nsion rollers, the respective end of each journaled in a respective one of each of said side members;

means associated with at least one of said tension rollers for adjustably retarding the free rotation thereof in said jourrials;

at least one of said tension rollers being radially adjustable relative to the other of said tension rollers whereby said web may be pinched therebetween;

a pair of drive rollers extending between and rotatively journaled in said side members, one of said drive rollers being radially adjustable relative to the other of said drive rollers;

said drive rollers and said tensioning rollers defining the end and beginning of a path which said material follows through said apparatus;

drive means connected to one of said drive rollers for rotating said drive roller about its axis; means for efiecting translation of one of said drive rollers radially with respect to the other of said drive rollers whereby said material may be pinched between said drive rollers and drawn along said path through said apparatus by the rotation of said drive rollers, and whereby the advancement of said material may be halted by radially separating said drive rollers; and means for stripping said lacers from said web including a first reel extending between and journaled in said side members, to which reel a first set of said lacers may be attached and stripped from said web along a first zone on said path intennediate said tensioning rollers and said drive rollers by rotating said reel as said web is drawn along said path, said stripping means also including first reel motive means connected to said reel for rotating said first reel about its axis.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising a pair of idler rollers extending between and journaled in said side members and located in said web path between said tension rollers and said first zone;

said stripping means also including a second reel extending between and journaled in said side members to which second reel a second set of said lacers may be attached and stripped from said web along a second zone on said path intermediate said idler rollers and said drive rollers, said stripping being accomplished by rotating said reel and winding said lacer thereon as said web is advanced along said path.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 2, further comprising:

sensor means in said path downstream of said first zone and intermediate said idler rollers and said drive rollers for detecting the presence of lacers remaining interconnecting two or more of said bands;

means interconnecting said sensor means and said drive means and said motive means for causing said drive rollers and said reels to halt when said sensor means detects the presence of lacers interconnecting said bands.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3, wherein:

said sensor means comprises a shaft extending between the journaled to said side members, and a plurality of fingers rigidly connected to said shaft and extending into said path between said bands;

said interconnecting means comprises a valve connected to said shaft and shiftable by the rotation thereof to cut the power supply to said drive means and said motive means;

whereby when one of said fingers is engaged by a lacer left interconnected between said bands, said fingers will be rotated and will rotate said shaft, thereby shifting said valve and cutting the power supply to said drive means and said motive means, thus halting said drive rollers and halting the advance of said web through said apparatus. 

1. Apparatus for separating material into individual bands from a web initially formed as a plurality of parallel bands laid edge to edge and held together along their adjacent edges by interconnecting lacers, comprising: a frame having two parallel spaced upstanding side members and at least one lateral member extending between and secured to said side members; at least two parallel tension rollers, the respective end of each journaled in a respective one of each of said side members; means associated with at least one of said tension rollers for adjustably retarding the free rotation thereof in said journals; at least one of said tension rollers being radially adjustable relative to the other of said tension rollers whereby said web may be pinched therebetween; a pair of drive rollers extending between and rotatively journaled in said side members, one of said drive rollers being radially adjustable relative to the other of said drive rollers; said drive rollers and said tensioning rollers defining the end and beginning of a path which said material follows through said apparatus; drive means connected to one of said drive rollers for rotating said drive roller about its axis; means for effecting translation of one of said drive rollers radially with respect to the other of said drive rollers whereby said material may be pinched between said drive rollers and drawn along said path through said apparatus by the rotation of said drive rollers, and whereby the advancement of said material may be halted by radially separating said drive rollers; and means for stripping said lacers from said web including a first reel extending between and journaled in said side members, to which reel a first set of said lacers may be attached and stripped from said web along a first zone on said path intermediate said tensioning rollers and said drive rollers by rotating said reel as said web is drawn along said path, said stripping means also including first reel motive means connected to said reel for rotating said first reel about its axis.
 2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising a pair of idler rollers extending between and journaled in said side members and located in said web path between said tension rollers and said first zone; said stripping means also including a second reel extending between and journaled in said side members to which second reel a second set of said lacers may be attached and stripped from said web along a second zone on said path intermediate said idler rollers and said drive rollers, said stripping being accomplished by rotating said reel and winding said lacer thereon as said web is advanced along said path.
 3. The apparatus defined in claim 2, further comprising: sensor means in said path downstream of said first zone and intermediate said idler rollers and said drive rollers for detecting the presence of lacers remaining interconnecting two or more of said bands; means interconnecting said sensor means and said drive means and said motive means for causing said drive Rollers and said reels to halt when said sensor means detects the presence of lacers interconnecting said bands.
 4. The apparatus defined in claim 3, wherein: said sensor means comprises a shaft extending between the journaled to said side members, and a plurality of fingers rigidly connected to said shaft and extending into said path between said bands; said interconnecting means comprises a valve connected to said shaft and shiftable by the rotation thereof to cut the power supply to said drive means and said motive means; whereby when one of said fingers is engaged by a lacer left interconnected between said bands, said fingers will be rotated and will rotate said shaft, thereby shifting said valve and cutting the power supply to said drive means and said motive means, thus halting said drive rollers and halting the advance of said web through said apparatus. 